It’s happening.
The mince pies are appearing on supermarket shelves, Christmas puddings are starting to make their annual comeback and, somehow, we’re already talking about what we’re going to be eating on Christmas Day.
Yes, it’s only September.
But if there’s one thing we love about this time of year, it’s seeing what the supermarkets have been cooking up for Christmas.
And 2026 looks like being a particularly interesting year for festive food.
The big supermarkets are once again competing to come up with the most exciting Christmas party food, the most outrageous pigs in blankets and the dessert that everyone will be talking about come December.
So, we’ve been having a look through the new Christmas ranges from Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, M&S, Aldi, Lidl and Asda to see what’s caught our eye.
There are some very traditional offerings, plenty of twists on old favourites and a few products that have left us wondering whether the supermarkets have finally gone a little bit too far.
We’ve picked out some of the food we’re most excited to try.
And we’ll be updating this article as more of the 2026 Christmas ranges arrive.
🎄 Tesco Christmas Food 2026
Tesco has gone big for Christmas this year.
Very big.
Its 2026 festive range includes around 600 Christmas products, with around 200 new launches joining the line-up.
And it’s the party food where things get particularly interesting.
🌶️ ‘Nduja Pigs In Blankets With Hot Honey
We have a feeling these could be one of the products people talk about this Christmas.
Tesco has taken everyone’s favourite pigs in blankets and given them a spicy twist, combining ‘nduja pork sausages with oak-smoked bacon and a hot honey sauce.
Sweet, spicy, salty and smoky.
What’s not to like?
They sound like exactly the sort of thing that will disappear from the Christmas buffet before you’ve even managed to get one.
🍸 Dirty Martini Olives
If you’re planning a Christmas drinks party, these are rather intriguing.
Halkidiki olives are coated in a crisp gin and gherkin sauce and finished with lemon zest.
It’s basically a Dirty Martini in snack form.
We’re not entirely sure whether that’s genius or madness.
Possibly both.
🥟 Pan-Fried Prawn Gyoza
Tesco is also moving away from the traditional beige Christmas buffet with some colourful pan-fried tri-coloured prawn gyoza served with ponzu dip.
They look very different from the usual sausage rolls and vol-au-vents and could make a great addition to a party spread.
🍠 Sweet Potato Tikka Baonuts
And then there’s this.
Part bao bun.
Part doughnut.
Filled with spiced sweet potato, pumpkin and cauliflower.
It’s certainly not something your nan would have put on the Christmas buffet, but that’s exactly what makes it interesting.
Our Tesco pick:
‘Nduja Pigs In Blankets With Hot Honey
This is the one we’re most curious about.
🎅 Morrisons Christmas Food 2026
Morrisons has also gone big this year, with nearly 700 festive products, including around 290 new items.
And there are some seriously tempting additions.
🐷 The Giant Pig In Blanket Is Back
Some Christmas foods simply become part of the festive furniture.
Morrisons’ giant pig in blanket is one of them.
It’s back for 2026 and we’re not complaining.
This year’s range also includes a new The Best Chestnut, Apple & Thyme Giant Pig in Blanket, which sounds like an excellent way of making an already rather ridiculous Christmas food even more festive.
🧀 Coated Brie Wedges With Cranberry Dip
Crispy on the outside.
Gooey in the middle.
Cranberry sauce on the side.
We’re struggling to think of a more obvious Christmas party food.
These could be very dangerous indeed if you’re standing next to the buffet table.
🐚 Mini Scallops In Shells
For something a little more grown-up, Morrisons is offering mini scallops in pastry shells with a creamy lemon and prosecco sauce.
Definitely one for anyone who wants their Christmas buffet to feel a little more sophisticated.
🍫 Chocolate Orange Star
Morrisons has also embraced one of the greatest flavour combinations ever invented – chocolate and orange.
Its new Best Signature Collection Chocolate Orange Star is a Belgian chocolate dessert with an orange centre.
It looks like the sort of thing that could become a Christmas table centrepiece in its own right.
Our Morrisons pick:
The Best Coated Brie Wedges & Cranberry Dip
Because cheese, pastry and cranberry sauce is basically a Christmas food group of its own.
🎄 Sainsbury’s Christmas Food 2026
Sainsbury’s is also bringing plenty of new ideas to the festive table this year.
And there are some particularly interesting options if you’re planning a Christmas buffet.
🎀 Pigs In Blanket Wreath
Because apparently ordinary pigs in blankets aren’t decorative enough.
Sainsbury’s has created a pigs in blanket wreath, combining everyone’s favourite festive sausage with a rather impressive presentation.
It’s the sort of dish that can sit in the middle of the table and make you look like you’ve put considerably more effort into Christmas than you actually have.
We approve.
🍗 Coronation Chicken Croquettes
These are another interesting addition to the party food range.
Crispy croquettes filled with coronation chicken and served with mango chutney.
They’re not particularly traditional Christmas food – but they’re exactly the sort of thing that could work brilliantly on a Boxing Day buffet.
🍎 The Apple Crumble Sandwich
Now this one deserves a mention simply because it is so unusual.
Sainsbury’s is joining the increasingly strange world of sweet sandwiches with an apple crumble sandwich, inspired by Japanese fruit sandwiches.
It’s made with apple, fruit compote, crème fraîche and biscuit crumbs in brioche.
Is it a sandwich?
Is it a dessert?
Is it both?
We haven’t decided yet.
🚗 Driving Home This Christmas
One of Sainsbury’s more attention-grabbing desserts is its Driving Home This Christmas creation.
It’s a chocolate mousse with a hidden brownie and salted caramel centre.
And yes, the name is clearly designed to get that Christmas song stuck in your head.
It has worked.
Our Sainsbury’s pick:
Driving Home This Christmas
Mostly because we’re intrigued to see what it’s actually like.
✨ M&S Christmas Food 2026
It’s difficult to talk about Christmas supermarket food without talking about M&S.
The M&S Christmas Foodhall is practically a Christmas attraction in its own right.
For 2026, the retailer has introduced hundreds of new festive products and there’s the usual mixture of luxurious ingredients, novelty products and things that you didn’t know you needed until you saw them.
🥜 Peanut Butter & Jelly Munch
The Peanut Butter & Jelly Munch is returning after becoming one of M&S’s festive talking points.
It’s a mixture of sweet and savoury treats including jelly sweets, pretzels, peanut butter bites, caramel peanuts, malt balls and chocolate popcorn.
It’s exactly the kind of thing that starts out as a Christmas sharing tin and ends with somebody hiding it in a cupboard so nobody else can find it.
🟢 Pistachio Muddles
Pistachio is still having a moment in 2026.
M&S has jumped firmly on the trend with its new Pistachio Muddles, combining roasted pistachios and crunchy pieces with caramel and Swiss milk chocolate.
These sound dangerously good.
🍫 Merry Malt Balls
M&S has also given the humble malt ball a festive makeover.
The Merry Malt Balls come coated in milk, dark, white and blond Belgian chocolate.
They look ideal for a Christmas film night.
🍪 Gimme S’more Munch
Another new sharing tin is the Gimme S’more Munch, containing cookie fudge clusters, marshmallows, chocolate digestive pieces, dark chocolate pretzels, white chocolate popcorn and caramel buttons.
At this point, we’re not sure whether M&S is making Christmas food or simply trying to combine every snack in existence into one tin.
We’re here for it.
Our M&S pick:
Merry Malt Balls
I’m an enormous fan of the well-known branded chocolate malt balls, so an M&S festive version with different chocolate types sounds great!
🥧 Aldi Christmas Food 2026
Aldi is taking a slightly more traditional approach at the moment.
The first of its 2026 mince pies arrive in stores from 20 September, meaning Aldi shoppers don’t have long to wait.
However, its full Christmas range isn’t announced yet, so we may have to wait until October to see that. We will try and update this page once we see it!
🥧 Specially Selected All Butter Mince Pies
Aldi’s Specially Selected All Butter Mince Pies are returning for 2026 at £2.49 for six.
They’re made with luxury mincemeat infused with cognac, brandy and dry cider.
And at just over 40p each, they’re certainly a tempting option if you’re buying enough mince pies to feed the extended family.
Aldi is also bringing back its Ballycastle and Jamaican Rum mince pies, giving shoppers a few more options if the standard mince pie doesn’t quite excite you.
Our Aldi pick:
Specially Selected All Butter Mince Pies
Sometimes you simply can’t beat a really good traditional mince pie.
And we’re quite happy to start eating them in September.
🎄 Lidl Christmas Food 2026
Lidl is making us wait a little longer.
The supermarket has confirmed that its Christmas food and drink range will return in October 2026, so we’ll be keeping an eye out for the full reveal.
And that’s worth doing because Lidl’s Deluxe range has developed something of a following over the years, particularly for its unusual party food, cheeses, desserts and Christmas treats.
What we’re hoping to see
We’re keeping our fingers crossed for some of the wonderfully indulgent Lidl Deluxe products that have become Christmas favourites in previous years.
We’ll update this section as soon as Lidl’s 2026 range lands.
Watch this space.
🎁 Asda Christmas Food 2026
Asda is another supermarket where we’re going to have to be patient.
Its 2026 Christmas page is currently telling shoppers to check back for the full Christmas shop, so the big festive reveal is still to come.
That doesn’t mean we’re ignoring Asda, though.
The supermarket’s Extra Special range is always worth watching, particularly when it comes to party food, cheese, desserts and those slightly more indulgent Christmas treats.
We’ll be adding our favourites here as soon as the 2026 range is fully revealed.
🏆 So What Is The Christmas Food We’re Most Excited About?
At this stage of the year, it’s impossible to choose a definitive winner.
Most of the ranges haven’t even arrived in full yet.
But there are already a few products that have really caught our attention.
🥇 Most intriguing
Tesco ‘Nduja Pigs In Blankets With Hot Honey
It’s pigs in blankets.
It’s ‘nduja.
It’s hot honey.
We really don’t need any more convincing.
🧀 Most likely to disappear from the buffet
Morrisons Coated Brie Wedges With Cranberry Dip
Crispy cheese with cranberry at Christmas?
Good luck getting to the buffet before they’re gone.
🎄 Best traditional choice
Aldi Specially Selected All Butter Mince Pies
Sometimes Christmas food doesn’t need reinventing.